Re: Future for Zync holders

They will likely let current Zync cardholders (the few that exist) keep their accounts and cards open, while slowly product changing or offering an alternative card eventually. Charge cards are a niche market, and the Zync must have been determined to not fit future Amex plans.

Re: Future for Zync holders

I know alot of people seem to like the build you own rewards idea, but to me it seems like nickel and diming your customers. They really need toimprove the basic gold card in my opinion, as it is basically the exact same thing as the green, just 30.00 per year more. From what I can tell the only difference is "gold card events". They should add one or two 2X points categories like dining and groceries for example to set it apart. Until they do I on't see much reason to 'upgrade' to gold from green.

This might just be me being picky, but I really don't think the BCP card itself looks all that great. For what is one of their flagship revolvers I would have thought a more appealing design could be made than a half clear, half white glazed, with a random blue square in the middle card.? The charge cards look unique, but amex revolvers could use a design overhaul.

Re: Future for Zync holders

That is true.And raises some interesting points. From my experience the one thing Amex still had going for it was the so called "prestige" however, the reality is that this appears to no longer be the case. From this board and some personal experiences it looks like people are starting to realize all the "benefits" associated with Amex are available from Chase, Citi, Discover ect with a much lower cost and much less drama. Some examples being FEF's, travel insurance, purchase protection, customer service ect (And no file review!).

In short form what im saying is you can get a card that does the same thing from Visa or MC with much greater acceptance.

Do you think there are plans to maybe make some changes to bring back the "prestige" or are they going to try and change the product line itself to be more similar to those of the competitors.

All that aside I applied for the Zync because it looked cool

And if in the future Amex does do some interesting things that make them more relevant I will be there to support them.

While not a makor reason why I like Amex, I still feel that it carries a certain prestige to it's brand. While other have caught up a bit in terms of services and rewards, no other company offers backdating of accounts. From what I have seen Amex is also quite generous with it's credit limits and CLI's do not require a hard pull such as with Chase.

I'm not sure if I agree that Amex has the same level of prestige as it once did. This may still be true among some, but it has diminished significantly as they have become more commonplace. Where I grew up, everyone had an Amex. The only question was what color was it: black (the majority) or platinum (the rest). Since then it's become quite a mainstream product, with other issuers offering Amex-network products that people often confuse with actual Amex cards that are underwritten by Amex.

Other lenders have caught up, and are offering similar or superior rewards. In this respect, Amex is no longer a monopoly.

I never understood what the big deal with taking a HP for a CLI was anyways. If you're fairly conservative with your credit applications, it isn't that big of a hinderance. Backdating helps, but as you become more established AAoA begins to matter less and less. For someone who spends a lot of time outside the US, non-universal acceptance plus a lack of EMV chips severely limits Amex's usefulness.

Re: Future for Zync holders

I posted this in the main thread about the Zync cancellation, but it got buried in other speculation.

I was hoping some of the Optima holders could answer this

"Well this drug me out of my lurking hole.... Looks like I got really lucky..couldn't sleep on Friday so I applied for the Zync-and was approved. Just in time! And like others said we now hold super sexy exclusive card Does anyone know what will happen in regards to the long term for those of us who have it? Will they offer us a PC or will they just keep supporting it. Specifically what happened after previous product discontinuations?"

I read on another forum that Optima holders were offered the chance to upgrade to another product, is this true? And if so given the Zync's reputation as a prime-ish card will they do it again?

I don't recall ever receiving an offer to upgrade my Optima. I still have an Optima Platinum and they still send me a new Optima card when my current one expires. I've had the Optima for over 20 years and it earns MR points. I also added my husband and my son as additional card members so they can earn MR points on their purchases.

If I had to guess, I'd say the Zync might become a "grandfathered" product, much like the Optima card is now.

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